Butterfly Memories
by ChibiJazRide
Summary: "See Italia? Butterflies are beautiful, but don't last long… they're just like memories… You won't ever forget me… will you?" "Of course I won't forget you! I like you too much to forget you!" One-shot; Chibitalia/Italy x Germany/HRE


**Butterfly Memories**_  
><em>

_I never thought that this would happen. Now he's off to war… and I haven't seen him since. I stared out the window once again, watching for him to return, remembering once again our promise, our _kiss_. How could I ever forget that? _

_After a while I got bored, and retreated to my chores. Mr. Austria noticed me and with a sad expression stopped me from what I was doing._

"_Italia, go to your room. You can take the day off." I nodded my understanding and left towards my room, taking the long route. _

_After a while, (it was a big house, ve~!) I finally got to the stairs, only to hear Ms. Hungary and big brother France talking._

"_Are you sure? This can't be true! He was so strong for his age!" Ms. Hungary had said._

_I faintly heard, "Yes, I'm really sure. I just came to tell Italia." I heard sobbing though the wall I was behind. I don't know why someone would be crying. I peeped out from around the edge of the wall. Ms. Hungary had her face in her hands._

"_No, don't tell her. It'll just break her heart." Mr. Austria commented, coming into view. I quietly gasped, had something happened to-_

"_I don't think I could tell Italia. Holy Rome had meant everything to her. And to say… that Holy Rome is… dead…" _

_Dead? He's dead? How could he be…?_

_Hot tears poured down my face, blindly I ran from behind the wall and through the crowd of grown-ups. They tried calling to me for come back, but all I could think about was _him_. All, my thoughts, all my feelings were concentrated on him. I ran all the way out to where I last saw him, on that small hill where we sealed our promise, butterflies fluttering past._

"_Holy Rome…"_

_**~x~**__  
><em>

"Italia! Snap out of it!" I looked up to see Germany looking angrily at me. I flinched back from his words, snapping out of my daze. I quickly looked around taking in the grassy hill behind us, the cloudless sky and the fluttering butterflies… it reminds me of Holy Rome…

"Ve~ sorry, Germany. I'm sorry…" I quietly said. That must've seemed out of character because Germany's face softened. Could he see through my façade? Could he see that _walking through_ this day was painful for me? That I'd rather be dead right now instead of living?

"Feliciano, what's wrong?" I flinched back again since it wasn't usual for him to say my human name… even though I always used his. "Why do you always get like this on this day?"

"I-it's nothing." I said unconvincingly. A stray tear rolled down my face. Germany placed his hand against my cheek and brushed away the tears, it seemed eerily familiar…

_**~x~**_

"_Italia! Where are you? Italia? Italia!" I could hear Holy Rome calling for me, but I didn't want to be found. I _just _found out that he's leaving soon. And to not be found crying again and anger him, I hid in one of the gardens -the one with all the pretty wildflowers and butterflies…_

_I sobbed quietly to myself, hoping he wouldn't notice and come find me, but he already had. "Italia! There you are, you had me worried. Please don't scare me like that again." I didn't look up at him, but I felt him kneel down and gently take my face in his hand, forcing me to look at him. "Italia, what's wrong?" _

"_Noth-nothing, Holy Rome." I replied, but he didn't listen to me and instead brushed away my tears, a light blush painted across his cheeks._

"_Italia, please don't cry. I'm only going away for a while. Is this what this is about? Me leaving?" I nodded as best as I could. He softly chuckled and kissed my forehead…_

__**~x~**_  
><em>

I jerked back, slapping away Ludwig's hand. He had this look of shock on his face afterwards. "Italia what's wrong with you? Why does this day make you act like this?"

"I- I can't tell you Hol- Germany!" No… no, no, no! I almost called him _Holy Rome._ It already made me feel like I was cheating on Holy Rome since Germany looked like him. I couldn't-

"Wait- what did you call me?" Germany looked horrified. I started crying harder. It- it was an accident! "Italia! What did you call me?!"

"Ve~ Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to! Germany, I-" I wanted to explain. I really did, but where would I begin? With our kiss? With the day we met? With- with the day he… died?

"You almost called me Holy Rome… didn't you? The Holy Roman Empire…" Germany stayed thoughtful… almost like he was remembering something.

"_Hey, hey. Who are you? Are you a country like me?" I exclaimed happily at the sight of a blonde haired boy who I had never seen before. I gently placed the flower I had in my hand on the ground, briefly noticing the butterfly that had sat itself on it. He had a black coat on, a matching hat sitting on top of blonde hair, and intimidating, crystal clear, blue eyes. He seemed a bit scary…_

_He caught sight of me and started blushing. Hm? Did boys blush? I started giggling. He got over it and angered a bit. "Hey! Why are you laughing? And by the way, I'm the Holy Roman Empire. Don't you forget that! Someday, I'll rule the whole world!" He started blushing again. "So, um… who're you?"_

"_I'm Italia~!" I sang twirling happily in my favorite green outfit…_

__**~x~**_  
><em>

Whispering almost to himself, Germany said "I haven't heard that in a long time… And isn't today when…" I gasped audibly, making him look at me. Tears were still streaming down my face.

"G-Germany…?" He chuckled softly.

"Italia, do you want to know what happened to Holy Rome? I'm guessing he was special to you, right?" I nodded. "Today is the anniversary of his defeat, isn't it? How did I forget that?"

"So you… know about him?" I asked a bit excitedly. Germany nodded.

"He knew my bruder… though the truth is, Holy Rome didn't die."

"What?" He- he wasn't dead…? So… did France nii-chan… lie? "He's, he's not dead? How do you know?"

Ludwig frowned. "Well, I was there when the Napoleonic forces defeated him in that battle. My bruder was the one to make sure he hadn't died."

"Wait," I said confused. So had Germany known Holy Rome…? "How were you part of the battle, ve?" I'd stopped crying wanting to know what had happened to my Holy Rome, but tears still glistened in my eyes. If he didn't die, then why didn't he come back?

"…" Germany looked a bit panicked at my question.

"Ve~ Ludwig what's wrong?" I asked him. He shook his head a bit quickly, making his hair come ungelled and fall onto his forehead. The bright sun making it shine beautifully… He- he looked _exactly like Holy Rome._ I actually opened my eyes, wide in shock.

Germany sighed. Quietly, almost to himself he said, "I thought this would be easier…" I just looked at him. Then he smiled, something he almost _never_ does. Slowly, I came closer to him, was he feeling ok? "_Stop! Don't come any closer!_"He put out his hand in an attempt to stop me.

"Huh? Is something wrong?" I said blinking slowly. Germany looked like he just realized what he did, and started blushing. He coughed to clear his throat, not looking at me… ve?

"_I'm sorry for everything I did…_" He had a distant look on his face, and cast his eyes downward… was I missing something…? "_This is goodbye, so don't worry._"

"_Wh…what do you mean…?_" Germany wasn't leaving me… was he? He couldn't! I didn't want to lose someone else! Was he doing this to confuse me?

"_I… I meant what I said._" He started to turn around and leave. A sad smile on his face, I thought I saw _hurt_ in his eyes. Now I _really_ was confused… I started panicking, this can't be happening. Wait- why does this sound familiar?

"Ve, Germany, _you're really going?_" I could hear fresh tears in my voice. I couldn't lose them both on the same day… "_No…_ no… Ludwig!" I ran towards him and tackled him to the ground.

"Italia!" He looked up at me shock etched on his face, I'd landed right on top of him. I cried even harder than before, begging him not to leave.

"Please don't leave me, ve! Please, please, please! I can't take someone else leaving me! T-t-ti amo, Ludwig!" I held onto his broad shoulders and buried my face in his chest. "Ti amo!"

I felt his arms wrap around me, encircling me in warmth. "Italia…" I pulled back to see his face. He was smiling again, ve… smiling? I looked at him in confusion, he just chuckled, wiping away my tears. "_Ever since the 900's, I've always, _always_ loved you_."

I froze from the shock of hearing that again, butterflies erupted in my stomach. That's… that's what Holy Rome said before… he… left…. Wait, does that mean… "_Holy…_ _Rome_?"

Germany nodded and sat up, making me slide onto his lap. "I thought, you'd figure it out sooner, we look alike do we not?" He brushed a lock of my hair behind my ear, making my heart soar. Why hadn't I asked? I _knew_ they looked alike, acted the same…

I squealed, threw my arms around him, and nuzzled into his neck. "I thought I'd lost you…"

He chuckled again. Germany was happy for once! "I promised you I'd come back, that's one promise I'd never want to break."

"Ve, but why didn't you tell me if you knew?" I said cocking my head to the side. A blush spread across his features like fire.

"Um… I uh-I didn't, uh… _remember _about my past until a little while ago… and when I, uh… did-… I-um, didn't know _how _to tell you…?" He stuttered out. He didn't change a bit! I smiled a bit bigger.

"That's ok!" I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"You know, Italia- you promised to make sweets for me…" He said. I pouted at him for a second and let go, brightening up.

"Ve~! That's right! Oh, Ludwig? What type do you want? I can make chocolate, or hard candy. Ooh, gelato is so yummy, what about that? Or-or I could make cupcakes, or cookies. Ve~ maybe I'll make some of everything! Do you like pie? Wait what flavor? There's so ma-" I was instantly cut off by a pair of warm, slightly rough lips pressing lightly against mine. It felt so _perfect_. I slipped my arms back around his neck, feeling his arms wrap around my waist.

Is it wrong to want this to _never_ end…?

Much to my displeasure, Germany ended the kiss. I let out an annoyed 've~!', pouting. He just smiled a bit and started planting butterfly kisses along my neck, and across my jaw. I sighed in contentment… he _did_ come back…

"Oh, and Italy?" I hummed, looking into his eyes. Germany was blushing again, giving him a flustered look. "I just realized…" I raised an eyebrow, _ve_? "You… um… you weren't wearing… _underwear-_ when we… kissed… as kids…"

I giggled at his expression and tone of voice, not answering. "Ve~, your so funny Ludwig! Ti amo!"

Germany (a bit shocked from being ignored) gave me small smile back. "Ich liebe dich, Feli…"

_**~x~**_

_I turned away from the flower in my hand to look at Holy Rome. He was actually having fun today. I smile at him, noticing that something was hidden behind his back. I giggled at his blushing face. He looked down at me; quickly and a bit embarrassed he kissed my cheek and placed a crown of flowers on my head._

_He turned away, perfect! I reached behind some tall grass and pulled out a similar crown, gently taking off his hat and placing the crown in it's place. Feeling the movement he looked back at me, confused as he touched the crown gently, _then_ he smiled at me._

_A delicate butterfly landed on his hand, and he slowly drew it out at me, so I can see it._

"_See Italia? Butterflies are beautiful, but don't last long… they're just like memories…" He looked into my eyes, both of us forgetting the butterfly momentarily. "You won't ever forget me… will you?"_

_I looked back in confusion, a small frown on my face. Then suddenly I smiled. "Of course I won't forget you! I like you too much to forget you!"_

_He blushed. "And I won't _ever_ forget you…" The butterfly took flight, scaring us both, but we quickly laughed it off._

"_I love you, Holy Rome!" _

"_I-… I love you too… Italia…"_


End file.
